Athletes’ Village needs to be ‘safest place in Tokyo’ - IOC’s Coates

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VIDEO SHOWS: EXTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM / NEWS CONFERENCE STARTING FOLLOWING IOC AND TOKYO 2020 PROJECT REVIEW / IOC MEMBER COATES SPEAKING ABOUT ATHLETES' VILLAGE AND ATHLETE SAFETY / TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT MORI SPEAKING ABOUT OPENING CEREMONY / FOOTAGE OF ATHLETES' VILLAGE, PROJECT REVIEW MEETING AND INTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM

SHOWS:

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 16, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM

2. OLYMPIC RINGS OUTSIDE OF NATIONAL STADIUM

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

3. TOKYO 2020 CEO TOSHIRO MUTO, TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT YOSHIRO MORI AND HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE TOKYO 2020 COORDINATION COMMISSION JOHN COATES ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE

4. NEWS CONFERENCE STARTING

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE MEMBER AND HEAD OF TOKYO 2020 COORDINATION COMMISSION, JOHN COATES, SAYING:

"We have to make sure that the Olympic Village is - as (IOC Olympic Games Director) Christophe Dubi keeps on saying to me - the safest place in Tokyo. The athletes have to have confidence in the safety of that."

TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 26, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

6. VARIOUS OF TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC ATHLETES' VILLAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE MEMBER AND HEAD OF TOKYO 2020 COORDINATION COMMISSION, JOHN COATES, SAYING:

"The athletes, once their competition finishes, will have one day, two days and then they will go home. The period of staying longer, in a village, increases the potential for problems."

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 17, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

8. VARIOUS OF PROJECT REVIEW MEETING IN PROGRESS WITH IOC PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH, MORI AND COATES ARRIVING

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE MEMBER AND HEAD OF TOKYO 2020 COORDINATION COMMISSION, JOHN COATES, SAYING:

"They (IOC's Athletes Commission) are confident that the athletes will understand their responsibility in this situation. They have responsibility to abide by the rules because the rules are there to ensure their safety. They volunteered that to us and I have no doubt about that. There is a great gratitude, I think, from the athlete community for all the work that is being undertaken to ensure they can come to the Games and they can have Olympic and Paralympic competition. They will respect that, I have no doubt about that."

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 17, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

10. VARIOUS OF PROJECT REVIEW MEETING IN PROGRESS

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL)

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT, YOSHIRO MORI, SAYING:

"For athletes, the athletes' parade in the Opening Ceremony is their prerogative, nobody can deprive them that right."

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 17, 2020) (FOREIGN POOL - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHT SHOTS)

12. VARIOUS INTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM, WHICH WILL HOST OPENING CEREMONY

STORY: The purpose-built Athletes' Village must be the safest place in Tokyo during next year's Olympics, a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official said on Wednesday (November 18) after meetings with the Tokyo 2020 organisers.

IOC President Thomas Bach and other officials have been in the Japanese capital this week as a show of support for the organisers as they try to arrange the Games despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the decision in March to postpone the Games, the Olympics are now due to begin on July 23, 2021.

Over 11,000 athletes are expected to descend on Tokyo for the Olympics and thousands more will come for the subsequent Paralympics. The majority will stay at Athletes' Village.

Joan Coates, an IOC official accompanying Bach, said the number of athletes would not be reduced and it was down to organisers to make them feel safe.

"We have to make sure that the Olympic Village is... the safest place in Tokyo," said Coates, who heads the IOC's Coordination Committee for the Tokyo Games. "The athletes have to have confidence in the safety of that."

In a break with tradition, Coates said athletes would not be able to stay in the village for the duration of the Games.

Coates said the IOC's athletes commission had given organisers their full support.

The organisers did not finalise any concrete COVID-19 countermeasures in three days of talks and did not say whether spectators will be allowed in venues.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said that more policies would be finalised in time for the organising committee's budget announcement next month.

(Production: Jack Tarrant)